Manufacture of festoons



Sept. 18, 1951 G. R. GOODWIN 2,568,495

MANUFACTURE OF FESTOONS Filed June 1, 1949 3 Sheets-Sheet l INVENTDR.

*BY WLM Sept. 18, 1951 R. GOODWIN 2,568,495

MANUFACTURE OF FESTOONS Filed June 1, 1949 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 IN V EN TOR.

BY M

filial-my p 13, 1951 G. R. GOODWIN 2,568,495

MANUFACTURE OF FESTOONS Filed June 1, 1949 I5 Sheets-Sheet 5 IN V EN TOR.

Patented Sept. 18, 1951 rumraeo '1.

tmN-T :oFFrc-E 2,568,495 MANUFACTURE onFns'rooNs George :R. cGooidwin, Attleboro, IrMass :assignor to;rMillere-Electricwcompany,a co1jporationof llthode Islaiid Application Jun 1, mug-serial Noi-96A22 l The: presentrzinventiom relatesvto: thetmanufae- -11 ture co'f decorative articles, 5 and shes aparticular :ereference ato tthe iwananutacture of :festoons, ameaths zan'di arlands.

-.a'L'heLJ-principal object? oft-the i invention is to .im-

cciosed in the detailed description ;following, in,

iconiunction =1 with Y the accompanying a drawings,

sziand zmore' speciflcallyztdefinedv another claims. ap-

rpeiided thereto. 1

In the drawings:

' Eig; r1 istax side vieWIOfi acpreferredmrrangement of 'riapparatus for wmanufacturing the improved 1: articlefxpartsl being -:broken1-away;

i 'Fig. :2;is aitoprplan view of- Fig. .11; pa m broken r away;

'Figtr-ii is adiagrammaticwiewshowing the-relattive;positioningpof the essential partsuof the ap-- 3U uparatus; :Figri 4 is an enlargedsection on the line 4-4-01 Fig'fll;

:Fig. 5-is a;side view of vtheroperatingwmeohav a gu1de l.5..-and aroundan idler pulley l6, theidler g-nism for 'thet-feect rolls: ofz-Eigl-A;

6 is an enlargedeview -of--.the shirring rolls on the line 6-6 tofeFigi 1, ;parts lbeing omitted -for. clearness;

,Eig. 9, is an enlarged sectional ..v.iew on Lthe lime-9 9 .orrjgma; ,Fig. iloeis i-alldetailed view illustrating e preferred form of; stop arrangement for periodica lly stopping the operation oftheiapparatuslafterla, I

sot grip 'jthe' wirefthe r0'11si26,21. rotating forwardly predeterminedtlength of decorative ...artic1ewhas -been= made and .Figull shows thearticlebentinto wreath form. In l the manufacture. of .1 ornamental articles L. irom Shirredidecorative.materiaLLthelshirred {Inaterial is wound helically by positioning'the' ma- .ALGlaims. (cl n-10)- cterialmbetween two" wires, andpulling -'--ther;1=two ,iwiresiand the contained material forwardly whiie zrotatingrthe wires-soraswtotwistlocklthermaterial itherebetween. I i i x :LPhaVe devised awnovel arrangement, wherebyl "use: asheavy; toundation wi-re whichris rotated and s'simultaneously' advanced; wdecorative material: ex-

tends overthe rotating advancingvwirefiand is swound around the foundation, wire:- and *is helilo'ically wound-thereon over the material asthe roi-itating foundation wireadvances. Since thetounl-wdation wire is not pulled, but. freely; advances, the alength-\.-of-the vformed decorative article: is i inde- -pendent of the size of thewapparatus, and ..-is

-15 .i limited aonly by the-space available forrmanufaciture. pvIri practicei-It have i found it; convem'entto cause awdesi-red 1 advance, 10f the -foundationswire nto openate an electrical switch whereby the :operr-atiomofr the machineeis stopped,- to; permitcutting 20, ofwthe formed decorative artiole the stop mech- ,,anism -rbeing arranged to automatically start operating again after cutting. I contemplate ,mountingant-automatically, actuated ,knifeflofthe guillotine type ,adj acentl-thegfonwardl endofwthe 25 apparatus, to be automatically actuatedwto cutofi :predetermined lengthsiand to operate whenwlthe machinetisrautomaticall stopped by thesstop smechanism;

Referringlto thedrawings, the apparatus min-'- eludes-a suitable" base I l on which. the, operating ;;.parts,,are mounted. Heavy foundation'wire lz-t-is gdrawnrfrom a wirelsupply reel I3 which ,is, r0- ttatablyvmounted on, asuitable fixed support: L4, andthefoundationwire l2 passes .througha fixed ,Jpullejy l6. and ,the guide-i SIbeingmOuntecL onan extension I 1 securedzto and extending ,rearwardly v,dfjfithe base'ilj. 'Ihefoundation wire 12 passes p'through alhollow shaft [8 rotatablymounted. in

"whichusfrotatably mounted on a crossshaft 22 "extending between the'two sides'23, 214"0f the whirl; The" two; pulleys limit-backtwist; ofthe i -foundation wire.

, The foundation "wire 12 now passes 'ithrough flajsuitable opening. in agguideplate 25;and"*bettweenitwol'feed rcillsZB, 21 which areknurled "j or otherwise indentedas shown inFig; 4 tofirm'ly to positively feed the wire througha longitudinally extending guide ;tube ":28, whereby the foundation wire rotates as 'it"'moves forwardly. f TIThe .forwardly moving foundation wire now *f'reely passes between two shirring rolls "295 '30,

binding wire 35 is drawn from a binding wire reel 36,.suitably mounted on the base. and

preferably on the shirring roll housing 31, the

binding wire 35 passing between the shirring rolls in superimposed relation to the decorative material and extending through an annular channel 38 in the upper shirring 101129. The

mounted in the housing 31, the gear 14 being engaged by a gear I6 on a stub shaft 1'! which has a pulley l8 keyed thereto and driven by a belt 19 from a pulley B8 keyed to the end of the cross shaft 45. The upper shirring roll 29 is keyed to an axial shaft 8| slidably rotatably received in vertical slots 82 in the sides of the shirring roll housing 31, and. suitably tensioned into contact'engagement with the lower roll 30 by regulated spring pressed plugs 83.

The binding wire 35 preferably passes through afixed guide 84, over an idler pulley 85 mounted in the housing 31 and a second fixed guide 88,

annular channel 38 is laterally displaced with respect to the annular channel 3| for the foundation wire, as illustrated in Fig. 6, the relative "positions of the foundation wire, the shirredweb 33, and the binding wire being shown in Fig.

-'8.- It-is initially'necessary to twist the end of the binding wire around the foundation wire as shown in 39 in Fig. 8, but this is not necessary thereafter, as the knurled rolls impart a roughened surface to the" foundation wire, to provide a firm locking base.

As the rotating foundation wire advances. the binding wire is helically wound thereon, the space between the winding varying in accordance with the speed of forward movement of the foundation wire; the amount of decorative web which is 'bound to the foundation wire by the binding wire is controlled by regulating the speed of the shirring rolls, which feed the shirred web forwardly at a desired rate to provide a desired fullness of decorative material around the foundation wire. The

resulting decorative article, which is designated 40 in Fig. 1, progressively advances in a trough-" like container 4|, secured to and extending forwardly from the base until the forward end of the foundation wire contacts a movable switch arrangement 42 for breaking the electrical line circuit to the apparatus.

The operating apparatus, see Figs. 1 and 2,

includes an electrical motor 43, which is actuated by suitable line current, having a power pulley 44' for belt-driving a pulley 45 keyed to a cross shaft 45 which is rotatably mounted in the base The cross shaft 48 has a bevelled end gear 41 mounted thereon and meshing with a bevelled end gear 48 keyed to a transverse shaft 49, suitably mounted in bearing supports 58 secured to the base H, the shaft 49 having an end sprocket 5| and driving a second sprocket wheel 52 through a chain 53, the sprocket wheel 52 being keyed to the guide tube .28 which is rotatably supported on a bearing stand 54. A

' sprocket wheel 55 is rotatably mounted on the tube 28 and fixed to the base II, to impart rotation to a small sprocket wheel 56 through a chain 51, the sprocket wheel 58 being keyed to a stub shaft 58 which is rotatably mounted in bearings 59 in the whirl, and which carries a worm 80,- the worm 60 meshing with-a worm gear 6| keyed to the shaft HI of the lower feed roll 21. [Theshaft 'lflhas a spur gear keyed thereon which meshes with a second spur gear 12 keyed to the shaft 13 of the upper. feed'roll' 25, whereby positive forward actuation of the feed'rolls 26, 21 is obtained. j The lower shirring roll 3| is power driven by a gear 14keyedto itsshaftlS, which is rotatably 93 and locked in-place by a lock screw 94 to for alignment with the annular channel 38 in the upper shirring roll 29.

Referring to Fig. '7, the decorative material :33 is rotatably mounted on the cross shaft 81 of the supply reel 34, one side 88 being secured as by welding to the cross shaft and the other side 89 being slidably mounted thereon and spring pressed inwardly-by a suitable tension spring 99 andan adjustablelock block 9| mountedonthe cross shaft, which is threadedly mounted ina suitable threaded bearing92 secured to the-base H, and is movable by means of a hand wheel properly position the decorative material with respect to the foundation wire l2, so as to .be centered as it advances to overlie the foundation wire. 1

Referring now to Fig. 10, the stop switch arrangement includes a movable arm 95 which is swingingly mounted at its upper end on a pivot pin bearing '96 andincludes a mercury contact device 9'! whereby tilting the arm 95 opens the line connection to the motor 43. and stops-the apparatus. When a desired length of the decorative article is cut and'removed from thetrough 4| the arm 95swings downwardly againand closes the line-circuit for the electric'motor 43. The decorative article maybe left in extended form, or may be bent into wreath form as indicated at 98 in Fig. 11. I l

- The invention thus comprisesthe imparting of a rotary movement to a foundation wire while advancing the foundation wire, the preparation ofan ornamental web in a desired manner, which preferably is by shirring, but which may ob- 'viously consist of crimping, slitting, feathering or the like, the feeding of the prepared ornamental web to overlie the rotating advancing wire, and the'locking of the ornamental web to the foundation wire by means of a binding wire which is' wrapped with the ornamental web around the foundation wire in helical form. The web is axially aligned with the foundation wire, and the binding wire is preferably drawn from a point whichis laterally displaced from the axis of the foundation wire and the web, to

I fix the binding point beyond the shirring rolls and thus prevent any slitting or cutting action on the web.

I have described the use of a foundation wire and a binding wire which winds around the foundation wire to bind a shirred decorative web to the foundation wire. It 'ispreferred to'use metal wire, but it may be desirable to use nonmetallic wires, for example, plastic wires or' textile cords, for decorative eifects- I also con-' template use of two or more binding wires, at least one of which maybe of plastic or textile material, one suggested manner of using a second binding wire being to provide a supplemental annular'groove in the lowershirring rollin alignment with the annular groove in the upper shirring roll, whereby both binding elements are initially out of line with the rotating foundation element.

Although I have disclosed a specific construction of apparatus for carrying out the novel manufacture, it is obvious that changes in the size, shape and arrangement of the operating parts, and in the size, shape and ornamentation of the ornamental web, may be made to provide ornamental articles of desired appearance, without departing from the spirit and the scope of the invention as defined in the appended claims.

I claim:

1. The method of making a decorative article, comprising the steps of rotating a foundation wire axially while linearly advancing the foundation wire, then feeding a decorative web forwardly to overlie the advancing rotating foundation wire, and then feeding a binding wire to the web and foundation wire for winding helically on the foundation wire and binding the web thereto.

2. The method of making a decorative article, comprising the steps of rotating a foundation wire axially while linearly advancing the foundation wire, then feeding a decorative web forwardly to axially overlie the advancing rotating foundation wire, and then feeding a binding wire to the web and foundation wire for windin helically on the foundation wire and binding the web thereto.

3. The method of making a decorative article, comprising the steps of rotating a foundation wire axially while linearly advancing the foundation wire, then feeding a decorative web forwardly to axially overlie the advancing rotating foundation wire, and then feeding a binding wire to the web and foundation wire at an angle to the foundation wire axis for winding helically on the foundation wire and binding the web thereto.

4. Apparatus of the kind described, comprising wire feeding means for supplying a foundation wire, means for receiving the fed wire and rotating the fed wire axially, means for feeding the rotating wire linearly forwardly, means for feeding a decorative web to overlie the forwardly fed rotating foundation wire, and means for feeding a binding wire to the forwardly rotating foundation wire to wind helically on the foundation wire and bind the decorative web thereto.

5. Apparatus of the kind described, comprising wire feeding means for supplying a foundation wire, means for receiving the fed wire and rotating the fed wire axially, means for feeding the rotating wire linearly forwardly, means for feeding a decorative web to axially overlie the forwardly fed rotating foundation wire, and means for feeding a binding wire to the forwardly rotating foundation wire to wind helically on the foundation wire and bind the decorative web thereto.

6. Apparatus of the kind described, comprising wire feeding means for supplying a foundation wire, means for receiving the fed wire and rotating the fed wire axially, means for feeding the rotating wire linearly forwardly, means for feeding a decorative web to axially overlie the forwardly fed rotating foundation wire, and means for feeding a binding wire to the forwardly rotating foundation wire at an angle to the foundation wire axis to wind helically on the foundation wire and bind the decorative web thereto.

7. Apparatus of the kind described, comprising wire feeding means for supplying a founda tion wire, means for receiving the fed wire and rotating the fed wire axially, means for feeding the rotating wire linearly forwardly, means for limiting rearward twist of the rotating foundation wire, means for feeding a decorative web to axially overlie the forwardly fed rotating foundation wire, and means for feeding a binding wire to the forwardly rotating foundation wire to wind helically on the foundation wire and bind the decorative web thereto.

8. In an apparatus of the type described, a supply reel, a whirl device receiving the foundation wire from the supply reel and rotating the foundation wire axially while advancing the foundation wire linearly, mechanism for limiting reverse twist of the foundation wire, a dec orative web supply reel, two cooperating feed rolls for feeding decorative web from the decorative web supply reel to overlie the rotating advancing foundation wire, a binding wire supply reel, and means for feeding binding wire from the binding wire supply reel to the rotating advancing foundation wire to wind helically on the foundation wire and bind the decorative web thereto.

9. In an apparatus of the type described, a supply reel, a whirl device receiving the foundation wire from the supply reel and rotating the foundation wire axially while advancing the foundation wire linearly, mechanism for limiting reverse twist of the foundation wire, a decorative web supply reel, two cooperating feed rolls for feeding decorative web from the decorative web supply reel to overlie the rotating advancing foundation wire, a binding wire supply reel, and means for feeding binding wire from the binding wire supply reel to the rotating advancing foundation wire to wind helically on the foundation wire and bind the decorative web thereto, one of said feed rolls having an annular groove for the passage of the foundation wire, and the other feed roll having an annular groove for the passage of the binding wire.

GEORGE R. GOODWIN.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,216,580 Levi Feb. 20, 1917 1,683,223 Wilson Sept. 4, 1928 2,112,723 Wisoff Mar. 29, 1938 2,131,893 Jessen Oct. 4, 1938 2,157,583 Wisofi Ma 9, 1939 2,197,615 Kelman Apr. 16, 1940 2,234,338 Franke Mar. 11, 1941 2,248,572 Kelman July 8, 1941 2,335,219 Abramson Nov. 23, 1943 2,414,378 Kelman Jan. 14, 1947 

